Portland’s Florence Melton Adult Mini-School has found a new for its popular classes at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. After years of teaching classes throughout the Portland area, most commonly in area synagogues, Melton has partnered with the MJCC to give those classes a more permanent home. In preparation for the beginning of fall classes,…
Dear Helen: I’ve been asked to give the keynote at my son’s small liberal arts college graduation. I’m not shy, but I’m just a software game designer whose app went viral. Can you get me started? Non-Dignitary Dear Non-Dignitary: Experience is hard to transfer, and hard-earned wisdom often sounds like banal platitudes. But what you…
Arnold (“Jin”) Zidell has poured his mind, soul and wealth into Blue Planet Network, whose goal is as vast as the ocean: to bring safe drinking water to hundreds of millions of people in developing nations. Now he is dedicating his body to the cause. Never mind that it’s a 73-year-old body. Since August, that…
The Oregon Hillels have had a busy year overcoming challenges to keep up with innovative programming, attract students and spread Jewish enthusiasm across college campuses. The Oregon Hillel at University of Oregon and the Greater Portland Hillel, which has chapters at Portland State University, Lewis & Clark and Reed, have welcomed many new participants. This…
When my wife and I moved to Salem five years ago, we didn’t give much thought to whether or not there was a Jewish community here. We moved to Salem from the Los Angeles area, where there are so many Jews that the public schools close on Jewish holidays. Judaism had always been a quiet…
Bagels have been a hot topic in Portland lately, so here’s a baker’s dozen of fun places where dads and kids can bond over a quick nosh. Father’s Day is a great day to thank the dads in your life with something local and delicious. Just remember to keep Portland schmeared! Tastebud Bagels 3220 SE…
With summer around the corner, parents and kids can start gearing up for some fun local activities that they may not have tried before. For locals and tourists alike, summer in Oregon has a magical quality. Restaurants spill onto the streets, serving fresh bread and local cuisine at sidewalk tables, kids who are almost translucent…
At 58, the president of Terra Nova Nurseries in Canby is still in love with the science and serendipity of plants. Terra Nova (www.terranovanurseries.com) is one of the most prolific plant-breeding operations in the world and has introduced more than 700 plant varieties since 1990. Dan started his scientific journey early, participating in OMSI programs,…
Hundreds of Oregonians recently were treated to a performance that most people have to join the Israeli Defense Forces to see. In honor of Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) four IDF Band members came to Portland to “bring a piece of Israel to communities in the U.S. and give them a stronger connection to Israel,”…
On April 11, 1909, when the 66 founding families of the city later named Tel Aviv raffled their building plots on a desolate sand dune using seashells, they probably did not imagine that 100 years later this wasteland would become a flourishing modern city in the heart of the Middle East, or that the number…
